I was looking out the kitchen window
the other day
and seeing the Lady Banks rose
coming to life.
It was rather one sided,
tucked back in a corner,
and it reminded me somewhat of
how it has been for the past year,
always waiting to see what was coming,
always waiting to see what was happening just around the corner.
Would we be able to stay healthy,
would the vaccine be available and when,
would Main Street businesses stay afloat
or would the doors close?
All of these questions seemed to be waiting just around the corner.
Those were hard questions to answer
and it took time, too much time,
but the light at the end
is beginning to shine through.
Things are starting to open up,
masks are not being required
in some outdoor circumstances.
If these are good plans only time will tell.
What is most important now
is that we get our vaccinations.
I have been trying to be a voice
for what I think is right for me
but that might not always be
right for someone else.
There are a lot of
different opinions out there,
and we all have to do
what is right for ourselves.
Some think after you are vaccinated
that you are safe
and don't need any other precautions.
I think differently
and when a small county such as I live in
has three times more cases
than they did the day before,
I find that discouraging.
This is the last
I will speak on the subject
except to say I hope
that everyone gets vaccinated
and that thinking about
your fellow human beings
becomes first and foremost
in your hearts and minds.
Every spring,
just after the first small miracle
of life starts to sprout,
I have hopes that the garden will
come back to life
and at the same time,
I really doubt that it will.
Even though our winter normally
isn't a harsh one
it still does unthinkable things
to the garden.
I have always maintained
that our garden
grows in spite of us
not because of us
and I try to blame it all on winter
but then miracles do happen
and I can clearly see
around the corners.
I have a "gardener"
that is very proficient
with a pair of clippers!
No matter what the time of year is
if, to his eyes,
something looks out of place,
when in doubt, chop it off!
I, on the other hand,
tend to love to live under jungle conditions,
so I don't like to trim,
but then that always shows
at the most inopportune times,
so I complain how we should have
trimmed at the right time,
and that sends that "certain gardener"
looking for his clippers,
which nine times out of ten,
he can't find
but it is that tenth time
that is the killer.
See,
in spite of us, not because of us!
We only had one clump of daffodils
that came up this year.
It must be those pesky squirrels!
In order to preserve the occasion,
I tried to dry them.
Actually, they didn't do too badly
although this one, above,
was the prettiest.
They will be tucked
into a wreath someplace
come next spring.
I would like to thank you all
for your kind comments about the books
in last week's post.
It seemed to bring back good memories
to a lot of you
and I am so glad.
I mentioned that we also got visits
door to door from
other types of salesmen.
We bought a vacuum cleaner,
I can't remember the brand,
but it was a cannister type
with a little top that unscrewed
where you could put a rag,
soaked with your choice of
something that smelled good
and as you vacuumed
the scent was everywhere.
My personal favorite was eucalyptus oil.
It brought back memories
of when I had a cold
and my mom put a pan of water,
with a bit of eucalyptus oil in it
on the wood stove
and then I had to stand over the pan
with a towel over my head.
It was supposed to make breathing easier and it did.
It also made me feel loved and
well taken care of.
I remember when the salesman came
to the house and we paid him.
We were contacted by the company wanting us to pay for the vacuum.
They later found out that the salesman
sold these vacuums and
then absconded with the money!
Another purchase was
Life Time pots and pans.
The salesman came to the house,
where we had invited a few friends over,
and he cooked us a whole, delicious meal.
We sold quite a few sets for him
and after 50 years,
we are still using three of the pans
to this day.
when he retired from the school district.
After the last storm
we noticed that it was leaning badly
so we called a tree professional
and he said it needed to come out
before we had another storm.
We were concerned
that it might fall into the street.
Although it was tall,
it wasn't very big around,
but when the trunk and the bigger limbs
hit the ground,
it shook the whole property.
It took them only about 1 1/2 hours
to cut it down
and run all the branches
through their chipper.
They left the yard cleaner
than they found it.
Now, we need to clean the corner up,
and we have a special piece
to replace the tree.
These are
the neighborhood wisteria trees.
The one on the back left
and the tallest middle one
belong to two different neighbors.
The one in the foreground
and the one far right
is our bush that overlooks
the Secret Garden...
...but this is all we can see of it
from the screened porch.
Aw, the Wonderful World of Wisterias.
Well, life has turned a few corners since I started this post.
We drove to Santa Cruz to attend a memorial service for our sister-in-law.
It was held in a large tent
on church grounds,
three sides were closed
with one big end open.
It was considered an outside gathering.
It was a wonderful remembrance of her
and our niece and nephews
did such a wonderful job
of taking care of her and their dad.
We got to see and hug our kids,
whom we haven't seen in a year.
We came right back home
after the service
and now, I guess,
you can say
we have taken more baby steps
towards getting around
the corners
that are yet to come.
Have a wonderful week.
...Judy...
Sharing today with:
Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda
